The Kingdoms Best
by JohnKatlove
Summary: Dave is a spectacle to see, a half bird man with a feisty attitude. Captured by the soldiers he as offered as a gift to prince John, and he doesn't seem to like the idea. With his fathers threats he can't exactly say no though. Co written fic.


All I wanted was just a little bit of food, it was hard to get here especially when you were someone like me, Dave. Where I lived people were just a little bit strange, and due to a little bit of... Misunderstandings I was run out of my old town. I found myself in a city soon after, and through searching garbage and unmentionable places I had found something for me to wear as a disguise.

Now here I was, the scavenger of the streets, flying overhead and watching out over the town. From high up it was harder for the guards to see me, which meant it was easier for me to just mind his own business and see where good spots to stop were.

I maybe should have mentioned that I'm not just any type of regular old freak, I was one of the strangest. Most of the half breeds around were cats, dogs, lizards, fish, not one was ever a crow. It was a strange occurrence, that only happened once in a lifetime, a bird child being born. My bro had been one, he raised me how to take care of myself, to keep myself from being found out. It had been hard for us, our red eyes were of course an oddity but for some people that was normal. The only real problem was our wings, which were hard to hide more often than not.

Usually if we just wore a thick sweater they could be covered, but it hurt horribly, cramping the muscles that helped us fly. I hated feeling contained like that, I liked being able to spread my wings and just fly, seeing everything from high above and feeling the wind surround me in a soft embrace, caressing my feathers and ruffling them.

My eye caught something shiny down below and my feathers tingled slightly, excitement coursing through me. That was the bad thing about being part crow, shiny things seemed to catch your eyes constantly, it was like is was a flower and you were a fucking desperate honey bee. You just had to get to that flower or you felt like you would fucking die. Pollinating just had to happen bro. If it didn't you weren't a fucking bee. Well in this case, you were half crow, and you just had to see what the shiny piece of shit was.

I tucked my wings back, angling myself so that I would be heading downwards, the wind rushing through my hair and stinging my face as I neared the ground. When the object was finally full in sight I let my wings out again, the wind catching me and keeping me from hitting the ground too hard.

On the ground not too far from me was a coin, a silver coin, something that someone unlike myself would not be able to see from up so high. Anyone could have dropped it, but from the looks of it, it was from that so called palace not too far from the city itself. What would royal money be doing so far out in the trees though, quite a ways away from the town?

Curious, I stretched out his wings and advanced towards the object carefully, eyes scanning around to make sure that there was nothing that could possibly get me there. After my brother being captured I was paranoid as hell, there was no way I was going to get snatched up and taken just like he had been. When I was just close enough to grab it, I reached down, only to feel something shift underneath me. Looking down my eyes widened and I let out a loud squawk, falling onto my back as the rope snatched me up and into the air.

"Fuck!"

Cursing I thrashed around, hitting myself on the tree a few times as I did, it hurt pretty bad and I could tell from the wet feeling on the back of my neck that I must have really hurt myself from doing so. The sound of voices made their way to me as I was cut down and tied up by a group of soldiers, all of them smirking to themselves and laughing. I gave them all glares, struggling to get out of my bindings furiously. Being confined was one of the worst feelings, though regardless I knew what was to come of it.

I was a prisoner, there was nothing left for me now.

It became apparent to me that we were going to the castle as they shoved me along. Usually prisoners went as far from the castle as possible, this was a different case. Somehow that seemed to be a trend with me, I was always a special case.

Most of the time I heard the soldiers talking about me being a sort of present to the prince. It was his sixteenth birthday, and Dave was the present they thought they'd never get. If anything they had been trying to catch a fox or a bunny, they got me instead. What a stroke of luck that had been.

As I was pushed along over the bridge to the castle I couldn't help but feel weak, defenseless. If I had been able to struggle more I could have gotten away, but there was no way I was going to risk hurting my wings. I would have broken free now, had the fact that they binded my wings not been a problem. There was nothing worse than containing a bird's wings. It was driving me mad, and they itched from wanting to be released.

That wasn't what I should have been worrying about though, the castle was my main worry for the moment. I was a pet for the prince now, and as I walked onto the land for the castle I had a moment of panic. This is not what I wanted, why was I just accepting it. Struggling a bit more I let out a squawk, thrashing my arms and trying to jerk away. It was no use, I was thrown over the shoulder of one of the soldiers, leaving me to beat and bang against their armor ineffectively as they carried me.

Damn brutes and their lack of pain.

* * *

><p>John stormed out of the room, grand double doors slamming shut behind him with a thunderous boom, angrily grabbing the crown off the top of his head and chucking it into some random direction. It ricocheted off the walls before coming to a stop in a dusty corner. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a servant hesitantly scurry down the hall, seeming desperate to even pick it up, most likely to return the piece of sculpted gold to it's proper pedestal, which resided in his personal quarters. John hated his lifestyle. He hated this! He hated being the crown prince to the royal throne, having to meet everyone's expectations perfectly, having to lead a life not his own-having to sit through these tedious meetings that his father made him attend that really only held the petty arguments of the 'ladies and gentlemen' of the court.<p>

_'Ladies and gentlemen my ass! More like squabbling pack of barbaric animals!_' John thought, as he made his way up one of the numerous sweeping staircases, trying to calm down. He had finally lost his temper when a pair of duchesses started arguing over a pair of slippers. That wasn't important to the running of a country! That shouldn't be important in any way at all! John was sick and tired of this. What a wonderful way to spend his 16th birthday.

Finally John was able to make his way to his 'secret' hideaway, though in all honestly most of the people inhabiting the castle knew it was a favorite spot of his. They just chose to avoid it. Stepping out of a trap door, John made his way onto the roof, a light breeze flowing through his hair. He sighed happily. This was his private garden, the only place he felt really at ease. He could relax here, and not worry about his outward appearance-or anything else for that matter. Looking regal and arrogant was not a thing one tended to enjoy. Sighing again, John sat down on the edge of the wall, looking out at the palace grounds.

"Such a deceptively beautiful place," John muttered, a bit bitterly. However, movement by the front gate caught his eye. Turning his head, he saw two men attempting to carry and drag a struggling figure, presumably up to the castle. Curiosity piqued, John watched, feeling slightly worried for the person who was being brought in. He was being handled very forcefully. Was it a criminal? An innocent? John's worry for the figure's well being increased as he saw one of the men hit the poor person.

Leaping off the wall back on to the roof, John hurriedly made his way down back down the stairs and through a series of hallways and corridors to the main entrance hall, where a small crowd had already formed. Making his way through them, he stopped in the shadows of one of the gargantuan doors, observing the spectacle. The men could be seen with their still actively struggling burden. Whoever it was, John congratulated them on their stamina. On the rare occasion this sort of thing happened, the prisoners never put up this good of a fight. It just got John more interested and worried. What could this person possibly be doing here?

* * *

><p>A giant door was opened and I was carried into the main entrance hall, dropped onto my feet and held in place by two large hands on my shoulders. My shackled wrists throbbed and burned, having been rubbed raw as I struggled and I looked up seeing someone coming down the stairs. They were handsome, which could only mean that they were the prince, that was usually how things worked right? He looked sort of upset, confused sort of and all I could do is scoff and glare.<p>

This was the person who was to be my caretaker, some arrogant prince who was getting me as a birthday present. He would probably get a kick out of it once he found out why exactly I was there. The prince would be so happy to have a freak to call all his own. Hell, maybe I would even find Bro here, there was always the chance he was the pet of the king.

Okay maybe that was highly unlikely.

A man entered the hall, and I looked over at him, my eyes shifting to a glare. The king, I had seen posters depicting him, had seen some of his speeches. Nobles were idiots, vermin the lot of them. People that I hated.

"My son! I have gotten you a gift." Announced the man, coming over to grab at my arm, making me wince. "He is all yours." Right after that was said I was shoved forwards and I practically tripped over my own feet, falling hard to my knees before the boy. The king walked forwards, holding out a key to him and smiling wide.

"Happy birthday son. I'm proud of you."

* * *

><p>John just stared wide eyed back at the man he called his father. He couldn't believe this, he was disgusted by the man in front of him.<p>

"...You call this a gift? This is a person. A person! A human being, with rights and freedoms! What is wrong with you!" John's voice rose as he got more passionate, until suddenly he was shouting at the king. "These are our citizens, the people we are supposed to be taking care of! The people we should be helping! Can't you see what's wrong with this picture?" John was absolutely livid.

Sighing the king stepped away and Dave looked back and forth between the two of them, his lip curling back in a snarl. What a cute little act he had going on there. Dave knew how people like this were, they were violent, the moment they were alone he would probably beat Dave. Hell he knew he would end up starving here, probably even more than back out in the streets.

"Just take your gift son, be grateful I found him for you." Grabbing his son's hand he placed the key in it and turned, dismissing all of the people that had gathered with a stern voice and leading his soldiers on them. "Take it to your room now, get it comfortable."

At the mention of being called just an it Dave tried to lash out at him, but a soldier was there automatically, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back before he could even attempt to hit him with his bound hands. He had half a mind to attack all of them, go after the kingand maybe give him a taste of his own medicine. When he turned back to the prince his eyes narrowed dangerously and he snarled. This kid wasn't going to get it any easier.

John just got angrier with every word his Dad spoke. "He isn't an IT, Dad! God you make me sick!"

After a few moments John started thinking. If he settled down and let the soldiers take the poor kid to his rooms, then John would be free to dismiss them, leaving the boy alone without the threats hanging over him.

"Fine. Take him to my room. Then leave. Go!" John snapped a bit at the end, already a bit angry that his father had strong armed him into accepting this.

Dave growled after the last thing he said and the soldiers jerked him to the side, he thrashed a bit and spat at them as they tried to carry him up the stairs and to the room. His fate was sealed.

Turning away from his father he walked quickly and quietly behind the guards, mind whirring. Where had the kid (he wouldn't stop think of him like that, despite the fact they both seemed to be the same age) even come from? Did he have parents? Anyone to miss him?

* * *

><p><strong>Authors note:<strong> thanks for reading this, this is only the first chapter of many. Sorry it was so choppy at the beginning we sort of wanted Dave's point of view before really getting into third person. This is only something that will happen very little, it'll be rare.

Hope you enjoyed! Stick with us for chapter two.

By: johnkatlove and perpendicularcircles (shes helping me write johns part )

Disclaimer: Homestuck is andrew hussies and so are dave and john.


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